The Shippensburg University baseball team closed out its regular season with a road doubleheader split against Shepherd in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Eastern Division Action Friday afternoon at Fairfax Field.
Shippensburg (29-19, 16-12 PSAC East) held on to defeat Shepherd (28-22, 14-14) in Game 1, 6-5, before coming up short in the nightcap by the same 6-5 final score. The win in Game 1 clinched the PSAC East No. 3 seed in next week's PSAC Tournament.
Shippensburg belted a total of six home runs Friday, which each coming from a different source.
Thomas Cano-Piszel,
Kyle Ausgotharp and
Mason Morris powered Shippensburg in Game 1, while
Ty Sherman,
Will Oates and
AJ Wenrich went deep in the nightcap. Cano-Piszel and Wenrich are tied for the team lead with 11 home runs.
Cano-Piszel was one of two Raiders with four hits Friday. The first baseman batted (4-for-7) with an RBI and three runs scored.
Jake Pope finished 4-of-5 at the plate (.800), including a 3-for-3 outing in Game 2.
Alex Rose homered in both halves of the doubleheader for the Rams.
Shippensburg will begin play in the PSAC Tournament Thursday at 8 p.m. at Slippery Rock's Jack Chritchfield Park against an opponent yet to be determined.
Game 1: Shippensburg 6, Shepherd 5
A first-inning unearned run and home runs from Ausgotharp and Morris staked Shippensburg to a 4-0 lead two innings into Game 1. Cano-Piszel made it 6-1 with fourth-inning blast.
Shepherd then began to chip away at the Raider lead and loaded the bases down just two in the sixth before a key strikeout from left-hander
Kaleb Maksimik left all three runners stranded.
Rose launched a solo blast in the seventh, but Maksimik was able to retire the next two batters to wrap up the playoff-clinching victory.
The Raider left-hander earned the win in relief, scattering four hits and striking out four in 3.1 innings pitched.
Game 2: Shepherd 6, Shippensburg 5
A flurry of first-inning homers from Sherman and Oates provided Shippensburg with another early advantage, 3-0.
The Raiders were held scoreless, however, over the next five innings. During that time, the Rams climbed their way back to take a 5-3 lead.
Wenrich blasted a dramatic, game-tying opposite field home run with one gone in the seventh – only for Shepherd's Ethan Burgreen to follow with a walk-off double in the bottom half of the frame.
Shepherd left-hander Tre Rex was the difference on the mound in the nightcap. The reliever came on to pitch in the top of the second and struck out six over 5.1 innings. Wenrich's blast resulted in Rex's only two earned runs.
Cooper Bryan, who earned the win in Shepherd's Game 2 victory Thursday, got his second victory in two days by getting the final two outs of the seventh inning.
